Bob,
I think that's an excellent point. I wish I encountered more people like this on the saltwater, but I don't. Amazingly, with far more water to fish, jet ski, sail, putter around in power boats, etc., they somehow seem attracted to the notion of invading each other's space, engaging in reckless conduct, and exhibiting the most unsportsmanlike behavior imaginable. I am not exaggerating when I say fishermen mourn the deaths of friends almost every year who were killed when some other fishing boat "buzzed" them, ran over them at anchor/wading/in a kayak, or because jet skiers collided with them.
I've been out on weekdays when there was not another boat on the horizon for many miles and then I've heard the feint, broken drone of a jet ski in the distance growing louder for several minutes as the idiot made a bee-line across miles of water to get to where I and a friend were fishing so he could cut donuts around the boat and the little spoil island where we were fishing. In similar situations, I've had motor boats pull up next to us and beach on a spoil island while we were fishing the shallows around one, get out to drop a couple of beach chairs and do some sunbathing. There are countless similar spoil islands all over the place within minutes of each other. Most never have anyone on them. A few days ago, I was wade fishing a shallow grass flat the last 30 minutes before sunset alone in a secluded cove of a state park I had paid to enter. A guy in a runabout with a girl on board puts in not 30 ft from me and drops anchor, laughs and says to his girl, "Well, now that we scared all the fish he'll be leaving." They proceed to break out some wine and snacks to watch the sunset as a reel up and walk off. These are mild accounts!
This is the reality of fly fishing in salt water when you just want to fish for a few hours close to home...so to speak. You learn to live with it. Of course, you can get away from the crowds for the more serious adventures. That's why this sort of stuff doesn't (or shouldn't) happen during guided trips. But I learned my lesson last year about not carrying a concealed weapon on the water. That's how bad it actually does get when you're fishing near enough to the ramp to get in and out in a few hours or doing some walk-in fishing at a park.
Have we "lost our way?" You bet! But don't blame the Internet or graphite fly rods and PVC coated fly lines. We've lost our way as an entire society.
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